


Everything is Under Control

by Hils



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2002-03-07
Updated: 2008-02-07
Packaged: 2018-10-08 12:43:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 14,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10386906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hils/pseuds/Hils
Summary: Wrecked ends slightly differently, leaving Warren with a new ally and Buffy with a new enemy, one that is especially close to home.





	1. Chapter 1

_I nearly killed Dawn_

There was no other way of saying it.

Willow had never felt anything like this before. In the space of a few minutes she'd gone from an amazing high to the worst depths of low she could imagine. Her cheek still stung where Dawn had slapped her but it was nothing to the pain she felt in her heart. Tears poured down her cheeks, mingling with the blood and dirt from the car crash and she dropped to her knees, her legs unable to support her any more. There was a nauseous feeling deep in the pit of her stomach, like something was pressing down on her guts but closing her throat so that she couldn't throw up.

"I'm sorry." She sobbed. "I'm so sorry."

She knew that this wasn't going to be enough to make things right, but it was a start at least. Raising her head she saw Buffy, Dawn and Spike just stood there, staring at her like she was something worse than dirt on the floor.

"I'm sorry." She repeated, hoping to get some sort of reaction from them.

"Get up and go home." It was Buffy's voice, but Willow had never heard it sound so cold. It was almost as though she could hear the rage boiling inside her.

"Buffy, please." She pleaded. "I'm sorry, please."

But her friend was already turning away from her. "Go home, Will. I'll talk to you when we've taken Dawn to the hospital."

As Willow slowly climbed to her feet she saw that the others were gone. She was alone once again, just as she had been when Tara had left. With a small sob she tried her best not to look at the smashed car as she slowly made her way home.

* * *

Willow wasn't sure how long she'd been home. She'd taken a shower when she'd arrived back, a desperate attempt to wash away any traces of what she'd done. Her skin was red and raw from all the scrubbing but it had done nothing to get rid of the dirty feeling she had. She's spent about an hour after that just staring at her reflection in the mirror, desperately searching for the girl she used to be. But all she saw looking back at her was the face of a pale would-be junkie who had nearly killed an innocent girl. She didn't know where the Willow she thought she knew had gone.

Eventually she'd wandered downstairs and curled up on the couch, waiting for Buffy to return. There was no doubt going to be a confrontation and she may as well get it out of the way now so they could try and deal with everything that was going on.

As she heard the front door open she sat up and watched as Dawn walked in a headed straight upstairs without giving her a second look. Her arm was in a sling and Willow felt another pang of guilt. Buffy followed her sister inside, shortly followed by Spike. She frowned, what was he doing here?

"Is Dawn ok?" She asked Buffy, making her presence known.

Buffy turned to face her and shot Spike a look.

"I'll go and make sure the little bit has settled in ok." He said, quickly disappearing upstairs and leaving Buffy and Willow alone.

"She's fractured her arm." Buffy said, the rage not as apparent as it had been, but there was still a coldness to her voice that made Willow shiver.

"I am _so_ sorry." Willow said yet again. "I had no idea this was going to happen. I just-"

"Will, I want you to move out." Buffy interrupted, the tone in her voice implying there was no room for argument.

Willow couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her best friend was throwing her out.

"Buffy, please don't. I understand you're mad and you have every right. But nothing like this is ever going to happen again, I promise. Please, don't send me away. I'm sorry."

Buffy's expression didn't change though. "I'm sorry, Will but I've made up my mind. I can't risk anything like this happening again."

"It was just a stupid mistake." Willow begged. " But I've learned my lesson, I'm quitting magic from right now. Nothing like this will ever happen again. Please forgive me, I need help."

Buffy shook her head. "I've tried Willow, believe me I have. I forgave you when you cast the spell that pulled me out of heaven because you thought you were helping me. I forgave you when you cast that spell that made me lose my memory, even though when I got it back it was like living through all the pain all over again. But tonight you nearly killed my little sister, and I'm sorry but I can't forgive that. If you need help then I'll do what I can but I'm not having you in this house where you can hurt Dawn or me ever again."

Willow's eyes flashed with anger through her tears. Buffy was acting like no one else ever screwed up or made mistakes. "Buffy, don't you think you're over-reacting. I mean, yeah, I screwed up, but I don't see you punishing everyone else who makes a mistake. I mean you didn't do anything when Dawn went out and almost got herself killed by a vampire, in fact you hardly seemed to care."

For the second time that night Willow felt a hand connect with her cheek.

"Get out." Buffy hissed. "How dare you talk about Dawn like that after what you did to her. Get out and stay away from us."

Willow felt the crackle of magic start to pulse between her fingers. It would be so easy to cast a spell on Buffy right now, to make her forget all about this, or better, to make her just forgive her and allow her to stay.

"You heard the lady, Red." A voice said from behind her. "Best do what she says."

"Stay out of this, Spike." She replied, without turning to face him. "This has nothing to do with you."

Despite her words however, she quelled the urge she had to use a spell on Buffy. If it was just the two of them it would have been fine, but she doubted she could take Spike and Buffy at the same time, even if Spike couldn't hurt her.

"Yeah?" Spike asked, moving over to stand next to Buffy. "Well I'm making it my business. You see, I happen to care about the women in this house and I'll do anything to keep them safe."

Willow sneered at him. "You didn't do a very good job when we faced Glory though, did you? Has it occurred to you how much happier we'd all be right now if you'd done your job properly and kept Dawn safe."

Spike lowered his eyes, knowing there was nothing he could say that would make her words untrue. Buffy however, looked appalled at Willow's words.

"That's enough! I can't believe you're trying to blame all of this on Spike. You have no idea. He's the only one that's been keeping me sane since you brought me back. If it wasn't for him I think I'd have given up long ago. Now get out."

Seeing that she wasn't going to get any further without having to fight them both Willow turned and made her way over to the door.

"You're making a mistake, choosing him over me." She said coldly, and with that she walked out of the door, slamming it hard behind her.

As Buffy heard Willow's feet stomping down the path she turned to Spike who was still looking downcast. Buffy wanted so badly to tell him that it was alright, that Willow was wrong, but somehow the words wouldn't come. She knew in her heart that what she'd told Willow was true, that since she'd come back Spike had saved her in more ways than one. But with that came the knowledge that everything had changed the night before. She wasn't human. Was she even worth saving?

It was then that she noticed that her hand was slowly moving forward, mere inches away from resting on Spike's arm. She quickly pulled it back and let it rest at her side.

"Is Dawn ok?" She finally asked, unable to think of anything else to say.

Spike nodded. "I gave her one of those pills we got from the doc. Knocked her out like a light, she'll probably sleep until the morning."

Buffy smiled, thankful that he'd been around to help.

"I'd better go." Spike said, cutting into her thoughts. "Let me know if you need anything. You know where I am."

This was his non-too-subtle way of telling her that he didn't intend to chase after her anymore. If she wanted anything she would have to come to him. She nodded, letting him know she understood.

"Thanks for helping with everything tonight."

He deserved that at least. With a small nod Spike turned, not even saying goodbye, and disappeared into the night.

Buffy sighed and decided to turn in for the night. It had been a long day but somehow she wasn't sure she was going to be able to sleep.

* * *

"I can't believe she threw me out." Willow grumbled to herself as she wandered slowly through the park. "And I can't believe she took Spike's side over mine. I thought I was supposed to be her best friend. What's he? A chipped vampire who's no good to anyone. It's not fair. Everyone else is allowed to make mistakes but not me. No, good old reliable Willow has to be the sensible one and when I'm not I get punished."

"HELP!!" A man's scream cut into her little rant and from the sound of it, it was coming from nearby. Willow broke into a run.

On the far side of the park she saw a man lying pinned on the ground by a vampire who had pulled his head to one side and was preparing to drink. Focusing her energy Willow pointed at the vampire.

"Ignis incende."

As the vampire began to smoulder she ran forward, grabbed the man under the arms and dragged him back just as the vampire bust into flames and crumbled to dust.

"Wow." The man gasped as he rose and brushed himself off. "That was amazing. How did you do that?"

Willow smiled. Finally someone appreciated the good she could do. "It was nothing. Are you ok?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Lucky for me you came along when you did. It was almost goodbye Warren there for a minute."

As soon as the words left his mouth he realised his mistake. Having recognised Willow the moment he saw her he'd been trying not to give away his name. She was probably going to run back to the Slayer right now and tell her...what exactly? There was no way she could know that he'd been working against Buffy. He relaxed a little.

"Warren? I know you!" Willow exclaimed. "You're the one who built those robot girls. That was some pretty impressive computer work."

He frowned; this hadn't been the reaction he'd been expecting. "Really?"

"Yeah." Willow replied, excitement glittering in her eyes. "I had a good look at the circuits of the Buffy robot you built. It was amazing, I'd never seen anything like it before in my life, and I've been working with computers forever. Where did you learn how to do all that stuff?"

Warren blushed; he'd never met anyone that got as excited about computers as he did, particularly not a beautiful girl like Willow. "I don't know. I picked up a lot of stuff from books and reading stuff on the Internet. The rest was just my own experiments, sort of a trial and error thing."

Willow smiled. "We'll have to swap tips some time."

Warren was one second away from inviting her back to his place right now. It was amazing just how comfortable he felt around her, she was different to all the other girls who made him feel clumsy and idiotic. But just as he was about to ask he remembered that he was talking to the Slayer's best friend, and that back at his place Jonathan and Andrew were coming up with the final plans for their next scheme to fight Buffy.

"Yeah." He said weakly. "Some time. Look, I'd better go and I bet Buffy is worried about you."

Willow snorted. "Not likely. She doesn't want me anywhere near her. She threw me out because she thinks my magic is dangerous."

Warren tried hard to disguise both his interest and his delight. "Really?"

She felt herself growing angry again as she remembered the argument they'd had. "She wouldn't even think about giving me a second chance. I can't believe how self-righteous she'd being, like she never made a mistake before. Well, if she thinks I'm going to go crawling back begging for forgiveness then she's wrong. We're through."

When Willow was done Warren decided to take a chance. Willow was clearly unhappy with Buffy and someone with her magical abilities and computer skills would be useful to them. Plus he liked her.

"Hey, you want to come back to my place? I've got a few things to show you that might interest you."

Willow nodded, it wasn't like she had anything better to do. "Ok."

* * *

"I'm _so_ going to kick your ass." Andrew yelled to Jonathan.

"Yeah?" Jonathan asked, his voice calm and his eyes fixed firmly. "Well, too bad for you that you didn't see _this_ coming."

As Jonathan pressed a series of buttons rapidly on his Playstaion controller, Andrew could only watch in horror as his character was dealt a series of brutal punches and kicks, resulting in him being knocked out.

"I win....again." Jonathan said smugly, sitting back in his chair and putting his hands behind his head in true Bond villain style. Andrew watched with devastation as the screen replayed his defeat over and over again from various different angles. Both of them sat up, however, when the door opened and Warren walked in. Their eyes widened when they saw that he wasn't alone.

"Guys, look who I ran into." Warren smiled as he ushered Willow in. "Willow, you know Jonathan, right? And this is Andrew."

The two guys raised their hands in a small wave, unable to take their eyes off the girl who had just walked into their lair. Not only was she the Slayer's friend but they had seen what she could do with magic too. It would probably be best if they didn't do anything to upset her. Willow gave them a small but cautious smile. She hadn't expected anyone else to be here.

Finally Jonathan stood up "Uh....Warren? Can we talk to you for a second?"

He glared at them. "Can't it wait? We have company."

Jonathan shook his head and with a sigh Warren turned back to Willow. "Can you give us a minute? Take a seat, this won't take long."

Once he was sure Willow was comfortable he grabbed Andrew and Jonathan by the arm and dragged them into the back of the lair.

"What are you doing?" Jonathan hissed, casting a nervous glance at Willow. "That's Buffy's best friend. Do you have any idea what she's going to do to us when she finds out what we've been doing."

Warren shook his head; not even looking fazed by what he was hearing. "Relax, I know what I'm doing. Buffy and Willow aren't friends anymore and we could use someone like her on our side."

"Yeah." Jonathan scoffed. "Because that worked so well when you tried to get Spike on our side."

"Don't." Andrew shuddered. "I'm still trying to forget what he was going to do to the Fett."

Warren was already moving back into the main room. "Just trust me, ok. I know what I'm doing."

"Sorry about that." He apologised to Willow. "We just had a couple of things to sort out. Would you like a tour?"

Willow stood up and nodded. "Sure."

Warren smiled. This was going perfectly. He just hoped Jonathan and Andrew would stay out of the way.

As Warren showed Willow around she was amazed at everything he had. Not only was there a huge supply of computer equipment, but there was a stack of magic supplies too. She felt like she was in heaven, the two things she loved the most, technology and magic all in one place.

As the tour came to an end they stopped in front of a large object on one of the tables, covered in a white cloth.

"This is my latest invention." Warren said proudly. "Can I trust you to keep it a secret if I show you?"

Willow nodded, her curiosity already peaked. With all the dramatic flare he could muster, Warren took hold of one corner of the cover and yanked it off. Underneath lay a large, chunky looking gun-like weapon.

"It doesn't work yet, but once we're done this baby will be able to turn anything, or anyone invisible."

Willow had the decency to at least look impressed, it had clearly taken a lot of effort to design it and she didn't have the heart to tell him that she knew a simple spell which would do exactly the same thing.

"What's this?" She asked, picking up a pile of papers on a nearby desk.

"Nothing!" Warren yelled, grabbing the papers from her. Despite everything she'd seen he didn't like the idea or her knowing that Spike had been there. Especially since the vampire had threatened him if he told anyone about it.

Willow looked puzzled but didn't argue with him. "So what's all this stuff for?"

Deciding that is was now or never Warren puffed up his chest. "We're the new crimelords of Sunnydale."

Willow raised an eyebrow. "You guys?"

Warren nodded. "Yeah. We're Buffy's new enemies. We've been working against her and testing her for weeks, and she has no idea."

"So, you're trying to kill her?" Willow asked, getting a little uncomfortable with the plan that was being unfolded in front of her. It was true that Buffy wasn't her favourite person. But she drew the line at killing people.

"Only if we have to." Warren replied, sensing her discomfort. "All we want is a little power in this town. We're sick of people walking all over us and treating us like crap. We just want a little respect."

Willow nodded, understanding fully what that felt like. Before she'd discovered witchcraft she'd been just like them. A geek that everyone either ignored or walked all over.

"We could use someone like you on our side." Warren probed. "It'll ensure no one gets hurt."

Looking up at him Willow smiled. "I'm in."

Before Warren could react she snatched the papers from his hands and began to look over them.

"Willow. Please don't!" Warren yelled, the fear in his voice evident. "He'll kill us all."

As her eyes roamed over the figures and statistics, Willow realised she was looking over the readout of some sort of electrical item.

"I'm dead." Warren muttered to himself, pacing up and down. "I'm a dead man."

Willow's eyes widened as she realised just what it was she was looking at. "Is this from.....Spike's chip?"

Warren's head snapped up and he stopped pacing. "You know what it is? You know what it does?"

Willow smiled. "Yeah, and believe me when I say that you're in no danger of being killed by Spike. Let me guess, he showed up here acting like the big bad that he's not and wanted you to take his chip out?"

Now Warren just looked confused. "The big bad that he's not? What are you talking about? And no he didn't want me to take it out. He just wanted to make sure it was working properly."

Willow quickly gave Warren a brief history behind Spike's chip, including what it did.

"But what I don't understand is why he thought there was something wrong with it. Unless....unless he managed to hurt someone without it going off."

Warren thought for a moment. "He said something about the rules having changed and then he took off. I didn't ask what he was talking about. I didn't know he couldn't hurt me."

Punching the desk with frustration Warren sighed. "I can't believe he played me like that. More than once. Does he think I'm stupid? He's going to pay for setting me up like that. Marching in like he owns the place and threatening us."

Willow placed a hand on his arm. This was good. They now had a mutual enemy who wasn't Buffy. She certainly didn't owe Spike any favours, and she was pretty sure that he was at least partially to blame for the way Buffy had turned on her like that. Warren was right. He should be made to pay.

"Have you got a plan?" She asked as she saw Warren flicking through the readings of Spike's chip.

Warren stabbed his finger down on a particular page. "More like a brainwave. This is perfect. Not only will we get our revenge on Spike, but it'll keep Buffy out of our way too. Now all we need to do is get him here."

Willow smiled. "Leave that to me."

* * *

A low growl resounded in Spike's stomach telling him it was time to feed. Once he'd had some blood he intended to go to bed and sleep for at least a day. He'd only managed to get a couple of hours in since his night of passion with Buffy and he was more than a little exhausted. He shook his head, determined not to think about Buffy unless he had to. If he carried on like this for much longer he was going to go crazy. He was still having problems believing it had happened in the first place.

As he climbed the ladder to the upper part of his crypt he smiled as he heard the door open. Seemed Buffy had taken less time to come around than he'd thought.

"Hello, pet. Something you wanted?" He smirked as he walked over to the fridge and pulled out a packet of blood.

"I want to know how long you've been able to hurt Buffy." A voice behind him said, not the voice he'd expected either.

"Red? How did you...What are you talking about?"

"I know you can hurt Buffy." She said coldly, walking towards him slowly and steadily, her eyes fixed on his. "I suppose you told her it was my fault. That the spell I did brought her back wrong. That's why she blames me for everything and that's why she threw me out."

"I think you'll find she threw you out because you're mixing with things that are bigger than you and you almost killed her little sister."

"Shut up!" She snapped. "Don't lie to me, Spike. I know you've been turning her against me. Why else would she choose a soulless monster like you over me? Maybe she can't see what you really are. Maybe she needs to see it properly for herself."

Before Spike could ask her what she was talking about, Willow's eyes flashed black and she stretched her palms out towards him.

"Intervigilum!"

Not even having time to react, Spike slumped to the floor, unconscious. Willow wrinkled her nose as she noticed that the container of blood had split open when he'd fallen and a dark stain was now spreading over the floor. Thankfully none of it had spilt on Spike. She didn't like the idea of getting her clothes all bloody.

"That was so _cool_!" Warren exclaimed as he, Jonathan and Andrew joined her in the crypt. "What did you do to him?"

Willow shrugged. "Just a sleep spell. No big. Let's get him into the van before someone sees us."

Warren and Andrew quickly bundled up the sleeping vampire and carried him out to the van, which was parked just outside the crypt. Soon they were back at Warren's place and had Spike laid out on the table.

"Leave this to us." Warren snapped. "Me and Willow need total concentration if we're going to make this work and not fry Spike's brain. You guys go home. You'll get to see the results tomorrow."

Reluctantly Andrew and Jonathan headed for the door. They really wanted to stay and see just what Willow and Warren were going to do. On the other hand they didn't want to be responsible for Spike's demise.

Once Warren was sure they were alone he turned to Willow and grinned. "Let's do this."

Willow switched on Warren's laptop while he attached a multitude of wires to Spike's head.

"Overriding the chip is going to be easy." He said as he worked. "But I'm not sure how we're going to be able to control it without being near Spike all the time."

"Is there any way we can make it voice activated?" Willow asked as she typed some numbers into the computer.

_Because I can do this_

Warren shrieked as he heard Willow's voice _inside_ his head. "What the hell was that?"

"Just some basic telepathy. I figured we could use that to control this chip. I don't need to be able to see Spike to do it."

Warren smiled. She astounded him with everything that she did.

The two of them worked solidly through the night, trying different codes on the computer in an attempt to override the chip's controls. The spell Willow had cast on Spike was a powerful one and he didn't wake once. Finally they programmed Willow's voice into the controls and were ready to test it.

_Spike, I want you to open your eyes_

She smiled when he did as he was commanded. It looked like it was working perfectly.

_Stand up and walk over to Warren_

Warren watched with fascination as Spike obeyed commands which he couldn't hear, but he knew were sounding clearly in Spike's head. He shuddered as the vampire stood in front of him, vacant eyes staring through him.

_I want you to slap Warren but I don't want you to feel any pain_

Warren's head turned with the impact of Spike's palm hitting his cheek. It stung, but what was more noticeable was the fact that Spike seemed to be in no pain whatsoever.

"We did it!" Willow beamed but was silenced when Warren strode across the room, pulled her into his arms and kissed her.

"We did it." He smiled.

Willow stared at him in numb shock for a moment. That certainly hadn't been expected, although it hadn't been altogether unpleasant.

"We've been up all night." Warren said, stroking her hair. "If you don't have anywhere else to go you could stay here. With me."

Dozens of emotions flooded Willow's face as she tried to deal with what she was hearing. She was still hurting from the break-up with Tara, but on the other hand here was a guy who accepted her for what she truly was. He didn't frown on her for using too much magic and he had the same love of computers that she did. It wasn't far off to say that they were perfect for each other.

"Ok." She whispered with a smile, slipping her hand into his.

Warren looked as though his heart would burst with happiness and he gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

"What are we going to do with him?" He asked, casting a look over his shoulder at Spike who was still stood in the same position, staring blankly ahead.

_Spike; lie down on the table and go to sleep_

"All done." She smiled. "Now let's follow his example."

Keeping her hand in his Warren lead Willow to the bedroom, where he was pretty sure sleep wouldn't be the first thing on the agenda.

* * *

Buffy hadn't slept well; her dreams had been plagued with all the things she'd tried not to think about while she'd been awake. She'd been too late to save Dawn, finding only the wrecked car and the mangled body of her sister beside it. Then she'd seen herself with Spike, being told that she'd come back wrong and using her lips and her body to silence him. The worst part had been when she'd looked into a mirror and seen the face of a demon looking back at her.

She sighed. She couldn't go on like this, not knowing what she was, distancing herself from everyone. Everyone except Spike. She'd always wondered why he'd been the only one she felt she could talk to after she came back. At first she'd thought that it was just because he understood her. He'd been through death himself and he was the only one who allowed her to be herself. But everything was different now. Maybe whatever in her that wasn't human was drawn to him because he wasn't human either. That's why they'd done all those things together. She just wished she knew. Everything was so confusing.

And now Willow was gone. She didn't regret what she'd done. Dawn meant more to her than anything and she'd do whatever she had to to keep her safe, just as she had always done. A small part of her was relieved that Willow was out of the house, every time she looked at her she was reminded that her best friend had torn her from paradise. On the surface she knew that Willow had only been trying to help, she'd genuinely thought she was saving her from Hell. But deep inside it wasn't so easy to forgive and forget.

"Buffy?" A muffled voice called through the door, pulling her from her thoughts. "Are you awake?"

It was Dawn.

Getting out of bed she pulled on a robe as she opened the door. On the other side her sister stood, still in the clothes she'd been wearing from the night before and her arm in a sling.

"How are you feeling?" Buffy asked with concern, the sling just another reminder of how close she'd come to losing Dawn last night.

Dawn shrugged. "Still hurts a bit. It's kind of hard to dress with only one arm though, I could use some help."

Buffy nodded. "Go and get your stuff ready and I'll be there in a second."

As Dawn turned to leave Buffy reached out and grabbed her uninjured arm, pulling her back and drawing her into a hug.

"I'm so sorry this happened, Dawnie. I love you and I'm not going to let anything like this happen again."

She felt Dawn's unbound arm slip around her waist and hold her. "I was so scared."

As she felt her sister's warm tears scald her flesh, a part of her was touched that hadn't been reached before, not even by her night of passion with Spike. This was love in its purest form. She had died to protect her sister and as she held her now while she cried she knew that she would happily do it again, and not just to get back to heaven. She would to anything to protect Dawn, suffer anything.

An image flashed through her mind, one of Spike sat on the tomb in his crypt, his face swollen and bloodied. He'd gone through a bout of torture from a god to keep her and Dawn safe. He'd suffered so much pain and still he hadn't given them up. It was then that it hit her. He really did love her. He'd told her so many times and she'd brushed it off as infatuation, or not being real. But right at that moment she knew that what he felt for her was just like what she felt for Dawn. Love.

Thoughts of Spike would have to wait thought; she could talk to him later. Right now she had to take care of her sister. Like she should have been doing.

"Come on." She coaxed gently, wiping the tears from Dawn's cheeks. "Let's get you dressed."

Dawn actually smiled, for the first time she could remember Buffy was actually acting like she had before she'd died. When she'd woken up that morning she'd been filled with he desire to blame Buffy for what had happened the night before. If she'd been paying more attention to others instead of being so wrapped up in her own life then she might have seen what was happening with Willow. But looking at her sister now, seeing how upset she was, Dawn realised that the only person at fault here was Willow. Buffy had a lot to deal with, coping with being pulled out of heaven, she deserved a little slack. Willow had no excuse.

As they passed Willow's room Dawn noticed with surprise that the door was open and the bed hadn't been slept in. When Buffy didn't say anything she knew something must have happened.

"Willow's gone." Buffy said, anticipating her sister's question. "She won't be able to hurt you any more."

"Gone?" Dawn asked, although she was already starting to suspect what must have happened after she'd gone to sleep.

"I told her to leave." Buffy explained. "I don't want her staying here until she's through whatever it is she'd going through. I told her I'd give her all the help she needed, but while there's a chance something like this could happen again I can't have her here."

Dawn nodded. "I don't understand how she got like this, she used to be the level-headed one."

"The power I guess." Buffy mused. "It made her feel special, free."

She shook her head. "But it's up to her to fix this now. It's not something anyone else can do for her. She needs to want to stop. All we can do is be there for her if and when she decides she needs help."

Dawn nodded; not sure she'd be able to forgive Willow that easily if she did show up looking for help.

"Come on." Buffy said, moving Dawn away from the door. "You're going to be late for school."

After having helped Dawn dress and fixing her some lunch Buffy watched as she made her way down the drive to head for school. She could almost feel normality slipping back into place and it actually felt pretty good. Still, she needed to call the others and let them know what had happened with Willow. She debated whether to go and see Spike, but finally decided against it. He'd probably be asleep anyway. She'd talk to him tonight when they patrolled; there was a lot she had to say to him.

* * *

Buffy, Xander, Anya and Tara all sat around the table of the magic shop as Buffy explained to them what had happened.

"I can't believe it!" Xander exclaimed in disbelief.

Anya and Tara remained silent for the moment.

"I should have said something." Tara finally said softly. "I saw things were getting out of control but I thought Willow would see sense and stop. Even when she didn't I just left. I should have told you what was happening."

Buffy shook her head. "It's no ones fault. I didn't come here to blame anyone. I just want you all to know what's going on in case she comes to you for help. Spike and Dawn already know what's happened."

Xander still seemed unable to accept what he was hearing. He's known Willow since they were kids and now he was hearing how she'd almost been responsible for killing someone. Anya wrapped an arm around him, giving his shoulder a gentle squeeze. She might not be the most discreet of people, but she could tell when someone she loved was in pain.

Buffy stood up. "I'd better head home. Will you let me know if Willow gets in touch?"

The rest of them nodded and Buffy smiled. "I'll see you guys later. I'm going to patrol with Spike tonight so could one of you keep an eye on Dawn for a couple of hours."

Tara nodded. "I'll stay with her."

With a nod of thanks Buffy headed home, she wanted to get Willow's things together in case she decided to show up.

* * *

The sun was just starting to set when Willow and Warren finally managed to drag themselves out of bed. The day had been spent love making and sleeping. Willow was still finding it hard to believe. It had been so long since she'd felt the touch of a man but now she had it again she realised that a part of her had missed it.

The two of them groggily pulled their clothes on, a lazy smile on both their faces and finally they wandered back out into the main room.

"There you are." Andrew said, looking up from the Playstation where he and Jonathan were having a Tekken rematch.

Jonathan frowned at the obvious sex that had happened between Willow and Warren but didn't say anything.

"So, did you do it?" Andrew asked excitedly.

Willow and Warren glanced at each other nervously.

"He means did you rig Spike's chip." Jonathan explained, seeing the look they were giving each other.

Willow's face relaxed into a smile. "We sure did. Would you like a demonstration?"

Andrew nodded with excitement and Jonathan gave a small nod too.

Willow looked over to Spike who was lying on the table in the same position they'd left him in, his eyes closed.

Just as she had done the night before, Willow began to send him telepathic messages.

_Spike, open your eyes_

Andrew and Jonathan watched with interest as Spike obeyed commands, which they couldn't even hear.

_Stand up and walk over to Andrew and Jonathan._

"OW!" The two of them yelled in pain as Spike banged their heads together, not flinching at all himself.

"Cool!" Andrew breathed in awe, once he'd realised just what was happening. "We can make him do anything we want."

Warren nodded. "But first things first. We need to deal with our Slayer problem."

Moving over to Spike he placed a tiny object on his T-shirt.

"A camera." He explained, seeing Willow's confused expression. "From now on we'll be able to see whatever he sees."

"Where does it transmit to?" Willow asked with fascination as she studied the small device. She was amazed that anything that small could hold something as complex as a camera.

Warren's eyes lit up. "I haven't shown you the van yet, have I? Ok, tell Spike to go back to his crypt, Buffy's bound to show up there eventually."

Willow nodded and sent Spike the command. Once he was out of the door Warren took Willow's arm and led her outside to his pride and joy.

"I set this whole thing up myself." He told her as he showed her the array of monitors and screening programmes. Finally he turned one of the monitors on and an image of a cemetery came into view.

"Spike?" Willow asked and Warren nodded.

They watched as his crypt came into view and he pushed the door open and walked inside. Once he was there he stood still, awaiting his next command.

"What now?" Willow asked.

Warren grinned. "Well, it looks as though we've got some time to kill."

His hand began to stroke her arm, causing the hairs to prickle on the back of her neck.

"Again?" She smiled.

Warren nodded. "I'll get Andrew to keep and eye on things here. He can come and get us if Buffy shows up."

Willow nodded.

_Spike, when Buffy arrives I want you to fight her. Don't kill her though; just rough her up a little. When you're done come back to Warren's_

_Just in case_ , she told herself as she and Warren headed back into the house.


	2. Everything is Under Control

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wrecked ends slightly differently, leaving Warren with a new ally and Buffy with a new enemy, one that is especially close to home.

"I won't be long." Buffy promised as she shrugged into her jacket. "I'll do a quick sweep of the cemeteries, pop in and see Spike and then I'll come home."

"Maybe you could bring Spike back with you." Dawn suggested hopefully. "I haven't seen him for weeks."

Inwardly Buffy winced. She knew her sister liked Spike, that they'd developed a close friendship while she'd been gone, but with everything that was going on between them at the moment she wasn't sure having him in the house would be such a good idea. They needed to talk, and in front of her sister wasn't the best place. Still, she was making headway with Dawn and she didn't want to ruin that be stopping her from seeing him. She smiled.

"Sure, I'll ask him."

At the end of the day she could always lie and say Spike was busy if she had to. Her words seemed to satisfy Dawn anyway.

"Ok, I'll see you soon. Dawn don't give Tara any trouble."

The two girls on the couch grinned. "Sure, we'll try not to burn the house down or anything."

With a wry smile Buffy headed out to patrol, leaving the sound of giggling behind her.

* * *

Glancing up at the monitor, Andrew sighed with boredom. Spike was still there, alone, doing absolutely nothing. This was not how he'd imagined a life of crime. He was supposed to be off on some sort of daring adventure, not sat here watching a motionless vampire. Warren hadn't even let Jonathan sit in the van with him and keep him company; he was guarding the lair in case someone stumbled across them.

Pulling his Gameboy out of his pocket he fired up Super Mario Brothers and began to play. At least this was semi-interesting.

* * *

Having done a quick sweep of the cemetery Buffy made her way towards Spike's crypt. She almost wished something would leap out and attack her. It wasn't that she didn't want to see Spike, she knew they needed to talk. But for the first time she intended to be totally honest with him about her feelings, and that scared her.

Looking up she saw that she was almost there. Spike's crypt was looming ever closer, shining in the moonlight like some sort of scared place. Up until recently that's what it had been to her, a place where she could escape from herself, a place where she didn't have to pretend, a place where she was loved.

Drawing herself out of her thoughts she realised she was standing outside his door. He could probably sense her which in a way was good, it meant he wouldn't be surprised when she walked in. Taking a deep breath she placed her hand on the door. She couldn't put this off any longer. Closing her eyes she pushed.

Once she was inside she opened her eyes. The crypt was in darkness, no candles and the television was off.

"Spike?" She called hesitantly. "Are you-"

Before she could even complete the sentence she was tackled to the ground. Glancing up she caught a glimpse of Spike's bleached hair as he straddled her and for a moment she thought he had something intimate in mind. Then the punches began to rain down on her.

The first caught her by surprise and she was unable to block it, she felt her lip split under the impact and tasted blood in her mouth. The Slayer in her then took over and she bucked up, managing to kick him off her. She quickly jumped to her feet.

"What the hell are you doing?" She demanded, wiping her lip. Spike merely lunged at her again; knocking her through the door so that the both landed sprawled outside. Buffy was the first to her feet, with Spike mere seconds behind her. As the moonlight shone down on them she got a good look at him for the first time and what she saw chilled her. There was no emotion in Spike's eyes, or on his face. He looked totally blank, vacant. She realised that something was seriously wrong.

"Spike? What happened?"

He merely growled and prepared to attack once more. Buffy changed her pose to a defensive one. It was clear that Spike wasn't himself and that he wasn't going to stop trying to attack her. She'd have to restrain him somehow.

Waiting until he lunged at her again she dealt him a powerful kick to the chest. He flew backwards, his head connecting sharply with the wall of the crypt. When he hit the ground he didn't get up again.

Buffy hurried over and rolled him onto his back. The blow to the head had been enough to knock him out but she had no idea how long he was going to remain that way. She was fairly sure that when he woke up he would try and resume his attack. Hurrying into the crypt she ran to Spike's weapon chest. Opening it up she found some sturdy looking rope and hoped it would be enough to hold him. She returned to Spike's side and quickly bound his wrists and ankles before hoisting him onto her shoulder. Maybe Tara could help work out what was wrong with him.

* * *

Tara and Dawn jumped up from their seats as soon as they saw Buffy stumble through the door with a body over her shoulder.

"What happened?" Dawn asked fearfully as Tara ran over to help Buffy lower Spike to the couch.

"I'll explain in a minute.

Buffy quickly dumped Spike on the couch and examined this ropes which were holding him. They seemed tight enough and she didn't think he'd be able to free himself from them easily.

When she was done Buffy sighed and flopped down in a nearby chair, keeping an eye on Spike in case he showed any signs of waking.

"I don't know what happened." She finally told Tara and Dawn. "I went round to Spike's and he just went crazy and attacked me. I had to knock him out just to make him stop."

The two girls stared at her in dumb horror, finally moving their eyes to Spike.

"You mean his chip doesn't work anymore?" Dawn asked in a small voice, sounding both scared and disappointed at the same time. "Is he evil again?"

Buffy shook her head, although the look on her face did nothing to reassure Dawn. "I think there's something wrong with him. When he attacked me, it was like he wasn't there, not really. He didn't say anything, that's just not Spike. And his eyes, they were so blank."

Cautiously Tara moved over to the couch and crouched down at Spike's side. After looking at him intently for a moment she closed her eyes and rested her hand on his forehead.

"I don't sense any magic." She said. "But I do sense anguish and fear. Whatever made Spike attack you, I don't think it was voluntary."

As she withdrew her hand she was startled to see that Spike's eyes were open. Jumping to her feet she saw that he didn't even seem to be aware of her. He was just staring blankly ahead. Dawn peered over her shoulder and shuddered when she saw him.

"Is there anything we can do?"

"I could try a spell and see if I can work out what's wrong." Tara suggested. "But I'll need to go and get some supplies."

"We've still got all Willow's things here." Buffy said, trying her hardest not to look at Spike. "Will that be enough?"

A frown creased Tara's brow at the thought of Willow but she pushed it to one side, instead focusing on the task at hand. She had to help Spike. With a nod she made her way upstairs to grab what she needed.

Dawn took a seat by Spike's side, trying to ignore the tears that were threatening to fall. She couldn't bear to see him like this, so lifeless. He was like a zombie, the animation and spark that radiated from him was gone, leaving little more than an empty shell lying on their couch. Reaching out a trembling hand she gently stroked his hair, hoping it may do something to soothe him inside, even if his body wasn't reacting. She wondered if there was any part of Spike still inside him, trapped maybe, and unable to tell them that he needed help. She imagined that must be scary. Or maybe Spike was gone? Had his essence been taken from him and sent somewhere else, leaving his empty body behind.

"Come back to us." She sniffed, the tears now starting to flow. "Please."

Buffy quickly moved over to her sister as soon as she heard her crying. She'd known Dawn would be upset, having seen for herself and heard from the others how close she had gotten to Spike over the past few months. However as soon as she got close to the couch Spike began to snarl and pull on his restraints. Both girls jumped back, Dawn instinctively hiding behind her sister.

"Wow, what made him freak out like that?" She asked, trying to hide how nervous he was making her.

"It's me." Buffy said softly, her own tears now threatening to fall as she realised that somehow she was at least partly responsible for what was happening, even if she didn't understand what it was yet. "I'm doing this to him."

Before Dawn could ask her what she meant they were joined by Tara, her arms full of magical supplies.

"What happened?" She asked, seeing Spike now trying to get free.

Buffy backed slowly away until she was out of Spike's peripheral vision. He immediately stilled and his eyes fixed blankly ahead once more. She couldn't believe this was happening _again_. She'd had sex with Spike and now he'd turned evil. Why did this keep happening to her?

"Buffy?" Tara asked, cutting into her thoughts. "Are you ok?"

She nodded, going back into Slayer mode. "I don't know what's wrong with him, but it seems to just be me that makes him go all crazy. I'll stay out of the way while you do the spell."

Without question Tara began to arrange the ingredients for the spell while Buffy and Dawn looked on. It didn't take long for her to prepare and once she was ready she knelt in front of Spike and began to chant softly. After a few seconds a pale yellow mist rose from the pentagram Tara had arranged on the floor and settled over Spike's head for a moment before evaporating.

"What does that mean?" Dawn asked as Tara climbed to her feet.

"It's not a spell." Tara replied. "This mist would have turned red if it was. I think maybe there's something wrong with his chip, it would explain why he can hurt Buffy now."

With numb shock Buffy realised she was going to have to tell them the truth. If there was any chance of working out what had happened to Spike they had to know why his attack on her hadn't activated the chip. In a way she was almost relieved, maybe there was something wrong with Spike's chip and he'd lied to her about it working. Even if he'd been telling the truth, at least she'd have a definite answer about what she was.

She took a deep breath. "Guys, I have to tell you something."

* * *

Warren's hands idly stroked Willow's hair as he watched her sleep. He had no idea what he'd done to deserve her, but he must have pleased someone somewhere. Not only was he on his way to being the most powerful guy in Sunnydale, he was going to do it with the perfect girl at his side. And it wasn't a robot or someone who wanted him to be something he wasn't. Willow was here because she wanted him, just the way he was.

"Are you watching me?" Willow smiled sleepily, gazing up at him through half closed lids.

"Just enjoying the view." He replied with a grin, lying back down next to her.

She smiled and then sat up. "We should go and check on the Spike situation. No offence, but I doubt we could trust Andrew to organise his own action figure collection, never mind anything as big as this."

Warren grinned again as he pulled his clothes on. "You're probably right. But I can't ditch them now, they know too much."

Willow waved a hand dismissivley. "A little spell can fix that. They won't remember ever being involved with this."

A wicked smile spread across Warren's features "Have I told you how amazing you are?"

"Not recently." She replied with another smile, wrapping her arms around his neck as he leaned in and kissed her. Finally she pulled back. "Come on, we'd better go."

The two of them stood hand in hand and made their way out into the main room.

"Jonathan?" Warren called, not seeing anyone around. "Jonathan, where are you?"

A quick search of the area told them that he was gone.

"I can't believe he took off after I told him to keep watch. When I find him I might actually take you up on that offer of a spell."

The two of them made their way out to the van and Warren threw the door open.

"Andrew, where did Jonathan...." He stopped, realising that he was in fact talking to empty space. "What the hell is going on?"

* * *

"Are you sure you're not over reacting?" Andrew protested as Jonathan dragged him down the street by one arm.

"I know what I heard." Jonathan replied. "I was about to go and wake them up when I heard them talking. Willow told Warren that we were useless and offered to do a spell to wipe our memories. He didn't exactly agree but he didn't say no either. Now we can either stay with Warren and wait for him and his new girlfriend to wipe our memories or something worse, or we can get out of here and stop the craziness before it gets out of hand."

Andrew paused for a minute, running through the choices in his head. He was kind of enjoying being a super-villain, even if Warren did yell at him a lot. At least he was making a name for himself, he was sick of being a nobody and living in his brother's shadow. On the other hand if the other choice was being brainwashed or killed he know what he had to do. "So where are we going?"

"To the one person who can help us get out of this mess."

* * *

"I don't believe I'm seeing this." Warren yelled as he stared at the monitor which was connected to Spike's camera. On screen he could see Tara and Dawn hovering close to Spike, with Buffy in the background trying to stay out of sight. He turned to Willow. "We need to do something. Now. They're not stupid. They're going to figure out what we've done to Spike sooner or later. We need to get him back."

Willow kept her eyes fixed on the screen, on Tara. Amazingly she found that her heart was cold at the sight of her former lover. She began to wonder if they had ever really been in love. Surely if their love was true then Tara would have accepted the choices Willow had been making with her life. Or at least done something other than leave. All that had done was push her into Warren's arms, and right now she was happy there.

"We'll get him back." She told Warren calmly. "I have a plan."

* * *

Willow and Warren's image reflected in a small pool of water as the two representatives for the Higher Powers gazed down at the scene which was unfolding before them

"Something must be done. The balance is being disrupted." The male told the female.

"This is not our decision to be made." She replied. "We cannot take action until we are requested to do so."

Both of them gazed upwards, as though they were expecting to hear something. When nothing came they fixed their eyes back on the pool and watched the saga continue.

* * *

Tara and Dawn listened, stunned as Buffy told them everything. About how empty she'd been feeling since being brought back and how the revelation that Spike could hurt her had just confirmed her own fears. That there was something wrong with her. The only detail she left out was the night of passion she'd shared with Spike. Not only was it something she didn't want Dawn to hear, but she figured it wasn't really relevant to why Spike could hurt her. By the end of her story both she and Dawn were crying and Tara was doing her best to comfort them both.

"I'll look into the spell we did." She reassured Buffy. "There might be a reason Spike's chip isn't going off."

Buffy shook her head, the tears still running freely. "But I doesn't explain how I feel inside. It's like a part of me is missing."

"Buffy?"

All three heads snapped around as Buffy heard the voice calling her name. It was Spike.

"How did I get here?" He asked, keeping his eyes fixed on her.

Cautiously Buffy moved towards him, wary of further attack from him. But attacking her no longer seemed to be on Spike's mind. He lay on the couch watching her until she was stood beside him.

"What's the last thing you remember?" She asked.

His brow furrowed as though he was trying to recall something which had happened to him years ago. "I was in my crypt....I don't know after that. What happened to me?"

"Do you remember trying to attack me?"

Spike shook his head. "Buffy, what's going on?"

"We don't know. We're trying to work it out. Something weird is going on here."

"Do you think you could untie me?"

Buffy paused, unsure. She wanted to believe that he was alright now, that whatever had made him attack her earlier was just a temporary thing. But she couldn't be certain, and she didn't want to take the chance while Dawn and Tara were in the house.

"I'm sorry, Spike." She said gently. "But we need to figure out what happened to you before we let you go."

Turning, she pulled Tara into the kitchen to discuss what they were going to o next, preferring it if Spike didn't hear that they were trying to figure out what do to with him. Dawn continued to sit at Spike's side, looking at him with both fascination and concern.

"Are you in pain?" She finally asked. "I think Buffy had to beat you up pretty bad to get you here."

Spike looked down at his wrists. "These ropes are rubbing, other than that I'm ok."

Examining his wrists Dawn noticed that they were a bright red in comparison with the rest of his pale skin. She winced in sympathy, hating the fact that he was suffering like this.

"Is there anything I can do?" She asked tentatively.

He looked thoughtful for a moment before nodding. "I don't suppose you could loosen these ropes a little could you. You don't have to untie me or anything, I know Buffy doesn't want that. It's just I don't know how long I'm going to be trussed up like this for and it's pretty damned uncomfortable."

The rational part of Dawn's mind told her that she should go and ask Buffy first, but the rest of her knew that her sister would only say no. She felt that she owed Spike something after the number of times he'd helped her in the past, besides, it wasn't like he wanted her to let him go, he just wanted to be a bit more comfortable.

Reaching over she began to work at the knot binding Spike's wrist. Buffy had bound it tightly but after a couple of minutes she managed to work it loose. Smiling with satisfaction she sat back.

"Thanks." Spike grinned and with that he flexed his hands with all his strength, the loosened rope now giving him the scope he needed to move. Dawn could only watch with horror as the rope snapped as though it was made of little less than string. With his hands now free he made quick work of the rope holding his feet and bolted out of the door before Dawn even had the chance to call out to Buffy.

"What happened?" Her sister asked, running into the living room when she heard the door slam. Dawn was merely staring at the empty couch where Spike had been a moment ago.

"Dawn, what happened?" Buffy repeated. But her sister merely shook her head.

"I'm sorry." She finally whispered.

Buffy knew that she wasn't going to get a sensical answer from her, but it was obvious that Spike has escaped and that Dawn had somehow helped, probably without even realising it. Apparently Spike wasn't as back to normal as he had let them believe.

"I should go out and look for him." She said, heading towards the door. "We still don't know what's wrong with him and he seems to be dangerous."

"Are you gonna stake him?" Dawn asked tearfully, finally making eye contact with her sister.

"I don't know." Buffy admitted. "I don't want to, but he might not leave me with any choice."

Dawn nodded grimly as Buffy opened the door and turned to leave.

"What the-?" Buffy suddenly exclaimed, stepping back from the door. "What are you doing here?"

"Buffy, there's something you need to know." Jonathan stammered nervously, shifting from one foot to the other and praying that Buffy wouldn't pummel him before he finished explaining. "It's about Spike."

He didn't have time to utter another word. Buffy reached out, grabbed him and Andrew and dragged them both inside, slamming the door behind her.

* * *

"Piece of cake." Willow smiled, sitting back as Spike entered the door to their lair, ready and awaiting his next instruction.

Warren grinned and pulled her into a fiery kiss. He loved the way her mind worked, getting Spike to pretend to be cured into order to get him back had been a stroke of genius. His eyes moved over to the vampire who was still stood in the middle of the room.

"You know, having a vampire we can control is good and everything, but it leaves us a bit stuck if there's something we want him to do during the day.

Willow frowned for a moment. "So what do you want to do, wire up a human the same way?"

The look in Warren's eyes gave her the answer. "Can it be done. I mean, without them having a chip in their head?"

Warren shrugged. "I've been working on one or two things. But if that doesn't work, you must know a spell that'll do the job."

Willow thought for a moment. "There's one I could do. But I'll need to have the person here to do it. Did you have someone in mind?"

Her eyes suddenly widened. "Oh! Buffy!"

Warren nodded, his eyes glittering evilly. "Think about it, it's perfect. It'll get her out of our hair for good without having to kill her or do anything like that."

Willow had to admit that it _was_ a good idea. But she'd known Buffy long enough to know that it was going to take something big to get her where they wanted her, and they'd have to be prepared to fight her. She wouldn't go down easily.

"I know just how to get her here too." Warren said, almost as though he was reading her mind. He gestured to Spike, who had now assumed his regular, blank look.

"You think she'll come after him?" Willow asked, slightly surprised. "I know Spike's been helping her out for a while now, but he's still a vampire. I'm pretty sure that all that's on her mind at the moment is killing him, especially after he tried to attack her."

Warren shook his head. "I think you're wrong. We've been watching her for weeks now, where she goes, who she talks to. We've been trying to look for a weak spot, and the one thing we noticed is that she seems to spend almost all of her time with Spike here. Sometimes they patrol together, sometimes they just talk. But she clearly enjoys his company, I think she cares about him."

Willow was now staring at Spike as thought she was seeing him for the first time. Warren's story certainly seemed to make sense. Ever since Buffy had been brought back she had been spending a lot of time out, sometimes not coming back until dawn. She claimed she'd been patrolling but now it seemed that she'd been with Spike. This was unbelievable. After everything she'd done for Buffy, her best friend was seeking comfort with a soulless demon. Well that was fine, if Buffy wanted to choose a monster over her real friends then it was going to be her downfall.

"Let's do it."

* * *

Buffy, Tara and Dawn stared in mute horror as Jonathan told them everything that had happened since he and Andrew had teamed up, right up to what they had done to Spike. When they reached the part about Willow and Warren sleeping together, Buffy squeezed Tara's hand gently, trying her best to offer some comfort.

"I'm going after them." Buffy announced, once they had all gotten over the shock of what they were hearing. "Willow isn't like this, maybe I can talk some sense into her. I want you all to stay here, try and call Xander and Anya too. I don't want Warren going after anyone else I care about."

If Tara or Dawn had noticed Buffy's indirect admission of caring about Spike they didn't mention it.

"What if Willow tries to attack you with magic?" Dawn asked, still remembering how scared she'd been the night of the car accident. "She's really powerful, she might hurt you."

"I don't think it will come to that." Buffy replied, clinging to the hope that she'd still be able to reach her friend.

"And if they use Spike against you?" Tara asked. "You might have to fight him."

"You can't stake him!" Dawn cried before Buffy could even answer. "You know it's not his fault that he's acting like this."

Buffy nodded. "It's alright Dawn, I'm not going to kill him. Don't worry, I'll think of something when I get there."

She glared at Andrew and Jonathan. "You two stay here. I want to talk to you again when I get back."

Andrew pouted and folded his arms like a sulking child would. Jonathan merely hung his head in shame and nodded.

"Be careful." Dawn said as Buffy made her way to the door. Before her sister could answer the phone rang and Buffy moved to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Slayer. We've got your vampire and if you want to see him back in one piece you'll do exactly as I tell you."

Buffy sighed. "Actually Warren, I was just on my way to see you and Willow. What exactly do you want?"

There was a stunned silence for a second while Warren digested the fact that Buffy not only knew who he was and that Willow was with him, but where he was too. He could guess who he had to thank for that.

"Just come to us and come alone. Try anything funny like bringing weapons or any of your friends and the vampire dies."

Buffy pulled the phone away from her ear as Warren slammed his receiver down.

"Seems like they're expecting me." She told the others as she headed back for the door.

"Buffy! You can't go now!" Dawn cried. "If they know you're coming they'll be all prepared."

"Dawn's right." Tara agreed. "If they know you're coming you could be walking into anything. At least let us come with you and help."

Buffy shook her head. "If I take anyone with me they're going to kill Spike. Besides, if I go alone I stand a better chance of talking some sense into Willow. A big group will only intimidate them."

Jumping up from her seat Dawn threw herself at her sister, wrapping her arms around her waist.

"Please don't leave me." She sniffled. "I can't lose you again."

With a tender smile Buffy stroked her sister's hair, finally dropping a kiss on the top of her head.

"It'll be alright, I promise. Just stay here with Tara and I'll be back soon."

Finally Dawn let go and stepped back, doing her best to keep a brave face. Satisfied that everything was ready Buffy turned and headed out into the night

* * *

"Well, she's on her way." Warren announced as Willow prepared the ingredients she'd need for the spell. "Are you nervous?"

Willow's head shot up. "What's there to be nervous about? Buffy may be the Slayer but aside from extra strength she's just a regular girl. With my magic she won't stand a chance."

Warren smiled. "This is going to be our crowning moment. Once we have control over the Slayer we can do anything we want."

With a coy smile Willow finished off her preparations and moved over to Warren. "We're almost there."

He grinned and pulled her into his arms, bending down and kissing her. "I couldn't have done this without you."

Willow smiled and stroked his cheek. "Same here. We make a great team."

They jumped apart as the door banged open.

"I'm sorry." Buffy said, marching in. "Was I interrupting something?"

Warren glared at Buffy while Willow stood where she was. "I can't believe you came. For Spike."

"I _came_ to talk some sense into you. Will, you're acting crazy, this isn't you."

Willow's eyes flashed black. "You're wrong. For the first time I'm actually able to be myself. This is who I am Buffy, you've always known it. But you ignored the witchcraft stuff as long as it made things a little easier for you. But when I started doing things that _I_ enjoyed you threw me out."

Buffy couldn't believe she was hearing this. "That's not true and you know it. I never interfered with your use of magic. But you almost got Dawn killed. That's why I threw you out. And this thing with Spike, what's it supposed to achieve? Are you trying to convince me that you're not out of control."

Willow sneered and moved over to the table where the spell ingredients were laid out. "Maybe it started out that way. When I first left I was desperate to prove to you that I was sorry, but then it hit me. Why should I care what you think? We've been through a lot together and I've seen you make mistake after mistake, but I was always there for you. Now, when I stumble you drop me like a hot coal. I'm tired of living under your self-righteous judgements. I don't need you or your approval. As for Spike, I did warn him that he'd regret turning you against me."

"You're sick! This dark magic is...is...infecting you, can't you see that. Buffy exclaimed with desperation. "Why won't you listen to me....or Tara."

Willow's eyes blazed. "Don't you _ever_ mention her to me. You don't know anything about us."

Sensing a weak spot Buffy calmly continued. "Actually I do. She told me all about it. How she felt your magic was getting out of control and that you couldn't even go a day without casting a spell. You know, I came here to talk some sense into you, but if you want even listen to the woman you love then I don't see how I can expect you to listen to me."

"Shut UP!" Willow screamed. "Tara is just a stupid little girl who is jealous because I've got more power than her. Ever since I did the resurrection spell she's been hiding in my shadow. She could never do the things I can."

Buffy couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah, because that spell was _such_ a success. Not only did you tear me out of heaven where I was happy, but you brought me back wrong. I don't know what I am, but Spike's chip doesn't work on me. You messed up big time, Will."

For the first time Willow faltered. "What?"

"You heard me."

After a momentary look of guilt and shame a look of pure rage washed over Willow's features. Rage for her life twisting out of control, rage for pressures placed on her from people too afraid to let her truly use the full potential of her power, and finally rage, for the failure that was hers but what she was unwilling to accept.

"Fine, if you were so happy in heaven then you won't mind going back there."

The crackle of magic filled the room as Willow's eyes turned black. Raising her hands she pointed them at Buffy. She began to chant, her voice low and dangerous.

Buffy tensed as the crackling energy gathered around Willow and she slowly began to back away, feeling the intensity of it all even from where she stood. Somehow she knew that her strength wouldn't be enough to save her from a magical attack of this proportion.

As the energy continued to build, Willow's body slowly rose from the floor until she was floating about a foot from the ground. However, before Buffy could move two bolts of energy shot out of Willow's hands and struck her hard in the chest. She collapsed; writhing in pain as the powerful magic invaded every cell in her body, tearing her up from the inside. Warren's eyes widened as he watched his powerful lover continue to torture the Slayer in ways he couldn't have imagined. With a final burst of power Willow sent an extra strong surge into Buffy. The force propelled the Slayer across the room where she hit the wall hard and slumped to the floor. She didn't get up again.

Seconds later Willow dropped back to the ground, also slumping to the floor. Warren quickly ran over to her and helped her to sit up.

"You killed her." Warren breathed in awe, staring at Buffy's body.

Panting Willow raised her head and shrugged "She pissed me off."

Warren was still staring at Buffy. "Wow. You really killed her."

"Yeah. Good job too. That spell took a lot out of me. I'll need to rest up before I can do any more casting." For the first time Warren noticed that Willow looked wearier than he had ever seen before. Here eyes seemed sunken and her skin was pale and coated with a nauseous sheen of sweat.

He helped Willow to her feet and wrapped his arms around her, half supporting her as she sagged against him, the surge of adrenaline she'd been feeling, gone.

"You want to rest? That's too bad." He smiled, tucking a lock of hair behind her ears.

Willow smiled tiredly back at him. "Just give me a minute, ok."

Warren nodded. "How about this? I'll dump the body in the river and then you and me can ditch this town. We'll go somewhere bigger, more exciting."

"That sounds good. What are we going to do with Spike?"

Warren shrugged; he's forgotten about the vampire, who was still stood in the corner where they'd left him. "We'll take him with us. He might come in handy. If not, we can stake him. It's not like anyone will miss him anyway."

Helping Willow over to a chair he turned to pick up Buffy's body and yelped. She was gone.

"Looking for me?"

Warren yelped again as he saw Buffy slowly climb to her feet. She looked as bad as Willow did, drained, weak and bruised. A small trail of blood ran from her nose and her movements were sluggish at best. For a moment Warren thought she was going to collapse just from the effort of standing, but the next thing he knew Buffy had limped over to him, grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back. Startled, Willow climbed to her feet and watched as Buffy spun Warren around so that they were both facing her.

"But I killed you." Willow exclaimed in disbelief.

"Guess you screwed that one up as well. Now, we're going to have a little talk and you're going to listen."

Willow smiled. "You don't learn do you."

Raising her hands again she pointed at Buffy and Warren "Separate."

Nothing.

Willow frowned. "Separate."

Still nothing.

"Looks like the batteries are dead." Buffy said with a wry smile. "As I was saying. I want you to fix Spike. Undo whatever you did to him and leave him just the way he was. If you try anything funny then I'm going to introduce Warren here to some new levels of pain."

For the first time in a long while Willow actually looked scared. Not only were her powers gone but her only companion was in danger and she couldn't save him. She wished that she could say she didn't care what happened to Warren but the truth of it was she didn't want to be alone.

"Alright." She said softly. Using the final ounce of her reserves she managed to project one small command into Spike's mind

_Spike, come and lie on the table_

Buffy watched as Spike obeyed the unheard commands, and kept a careful eye on Willow in case she had something else in mind. Somehow she didn't think she'd be that stupid.

As Willow attached several wires to Spike's head Buffy couldn't help but shudder. This must have been awful for him. She almost hoped that when this was over that he'd have no memory of it.

Willow typed a long series of letters and numbers into the computer and finally stepped back.

"Done."

Keeping hold of Warren Buffy moved over to the table and looked down. Spike had his eyes closed and it looked as though he was sleeping.

"Spike?" She asked uncertainly.

His eyes opened and he looked up at her. Although he didn't say anything there was definite recognition there. At least now that Willow's power was zapped she could be certain that Spike really was himself.

"Are you ok?" She asked.

Spike's eyes flitted nervously around the room until they landed on Willow. He frowned, as though he was listening carefully for something. With a sigh of relief when he didn't hear Willow's voice in his head he looked back at Buffy and nodded. Releasing Warren she pushed him over to Willow and helped Spike to sit up.

"I want you two to get out of my town. I never want to see you again; I never want to hear from you again. And if you touch me or my friends I _will_ kill you.

Unable to accept the lifeline they were being offered Willow stopped. "Why should I leave? Sunnydale is my home too."

"Not anymore. You crossed a line Will. You tossed in your white hat. You leave now, because of who you were. You stay, and I'll slay you for who you are."

Tears brimmed at the Wiccan's eyes as it finally sank in as to what she had become. However, she offered no further resistance, merely taking Warren's arm and turning to leave.

"Not so fast."

Willow and Warren looked up to find the doorway blocked by a woman dressed in a gown which appeared to be made of shimmering gold, her skin glowed and she had a mass of black hair piled on top of her head.

"I have been summoned for you Willow Rosenberg. You and your consort."

"M-me?" Warren stammered.

"You have disrupted the balance of power by using your gifts for the purpose of self-gratification. Now you must pay the price for your selfishness."

Willow and Warren both blanched at the women's words.

"Your gifts will be taken from you." She continued. "And you will be both sent into a dimension where you will no longer pose a threat to yourself or to others. The people in this world have suffered enough."

The two of them turned to see Buffy and Spike frozen in place, the Slayer with her arm still wrapped around the vampire's shoulder from helping him to sit up. It was obvious they could neither see nor hear what was happening.

Before they could protest the woman waved a hand in front of them and in a cloud of smoke they were sucked into their new world. As soon as they were gone Buffy and Spike began to move once more.

"Who are you?" Buffy asked, her eyes falling on the woman in the doorway.

"I was sent to re-balance the scales. Willow Rosenberg and her friend are no longer a threat to you."

"What did you do to them?" Buffy demanded.

"They are quite safe. They have been banished to a world where they cannot harm anyone. They will be happy together once they adjust to their lack of power. Now my work is done here. Farewell Buffy Summers."

With that she faded away until Buffy and Spike were left alone.

"Come on." Buffy said, keeping her arms around Spike as she helped him to his feet, her concern for him overriding her own pain. "Let's get out of here."

* * *

When they reached the house Buffy waved off the stream of questions from everyone about what had happened and took Spike upstairs to what had been Willow's room. He hadn't said a word since Willow had undone her spell on him and she figured he must be exhausted.

Once he was settled in bed she left him to sleep she went downstairs to explain to the others what had happened.

When she reached the part about Willow and Warren being banished Tara began to cry softly, she had honestly hoped that Willow would come around. Dawn wrapped her arms around her and held her as she cried.

Finally she finished her story and turned to Jonathan and Andrew.

"I'll give you the same deal I gave Willow and Warren. Get out of my town and stay away from me and my friends."

"I'm really sorr-" Jonathan began.

"Don't!" Buffy snapped. "It's too late for that. Try saying sorry to Spike. It was his life that you guys decided to play God with. Now get out."

Not needing to be told twice the two of them left.

"Are you ok?" Dawn asked with concern.

Buffy nodded. "Well, I'm rating pretty high on the ouch factor and I'll probably want to sleep for a week after this. But I'm still pretty much in once piece so I think I'll be ok. I guess Willow's magic wasn't as powerful as she thought."

Still nestled in Dawn's arms Tara wondered if she should tell them about the protection spell she'd cast over Buffy just after she'd left. Finally she decided against it. They didn't need to know. All that mattered was that it had worked.

"I think I'm going to take a shower and then head off to bed. Tara, you're welcome to stay if you like."

The witch nodded as did Dawn; indicating she'd make sure Tara was alright. Xander and Anya said their goodbyes and headed back to their apartment now the danger was over.

Leaving Dawn and Tara alone Buffy headed upstairs, stopping outside Spike's room. She knew she should probably just leave him to rest, but on the other hand she wanted to make sure he was alright. Finally she knocked softly and pushed the door open.

"Spike? Are you awake?"

As her eyes adjusted to the darkness she finally made out his form lying on the bed, his eyes staring up at the ceiling. Slowly she moved over to him and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Have you slept at all?" She asked gently, knowing that after everything that had happened to him this couldn't be easy.

After a moments pause he turned his head so that his eyes met hers.

"No." He replied quietly.

"Do you want me to fix you some hot chocolate?" She asked. "It might help you sleep."

"No." He replied in the same quiet voice, fixing his eyes back on the ceiling.

"Do you want to talk about what happened?" She tried again, desperate to get him talking. She hated seeing him withdrawn like this.

"There's nothing to talk about." He replied.

Buffy sighed. "Spike, I know it must have been hard for you but-"

"No, you _don't_ know!" Spike snapped. "You have no idea what it's like to be trapped inside your own body, to have no control over what you're doing. I could see myself attacking you and there was nothing I could do to stop it. There is no way you could understand what that feels like."

Buffy was silent for a moment. "You're right. I don't know what it feels like to lose control of yourself like that. But I do know what it's like to lose control of your life. Ever since I was called as the Slayer I've never really been able to make my own decisions about my life. I always have to do my duty, even if it's not what I want to do. Even when I died it still didn't end. I had to come back and listen to everyone tell me how I should be living my life. Well, everyone except you. You're the only one who accepted me the way I was and wasn't always telling me what I should and shouldn't do. I know it's not the same as what happened to you, but believe me I have an idea of what it feels like."

Spike turned his head to look at her once more. "Well, I guess we're both messed up then."

A smile tugged at the corner of her lips. "I guess so. You feel ready to get some sleep now?"

This time Spike couldn't help but grin. "It depends if you had anything else in mind. This is a pretty big bed after all."

Ordinarily Buffy would have pounded him for saying something like that, but at the moment she was so relieved to have him back to normal that she just smiled. "You wish."

"I do actually." Spike replied with a smirk. "I don't suppose you'd stay with me until I fall asleep. I've had a rough couple of days after all."

With a sigh she toed of her shoes and lay on top of the covers beside him. "I'm only doing this because of what you've been through."

"You tell yourself that if it helps." Spike replied sleepily, moving over so that he was snuggled next to her.

As much as she hated to admit it, Buffy found just lying there with him quite a comforting feeling, her aches and pains seeming a lot less now that he had his arms around her. She was reminded of the way she'd felt when she'd been holding Dawn that morning.

"Spike?" She whispered, hoping he wasn't asleep yet.

"Mmm?"

"I'm glad you're alright. I missed you."

"Missed you too. Love you."

As she felt him drift off to sleep Buffy lay there holding him in her arms, trying to take in these new feelings she was having. She didn't love Spike, not yet anyway. But for the first time she felt as though she could. It would take time, and it probably wouldn't be easy but there was a space in her heart just waiting for him to fill. And she knew that he would. Leaning over she pressed a gentle kiss on his forehead, smiling as he let out a small contented sigh. With that she drifted off to sleep, knowing that at last she was ready to start living.

The End


End file.
